Honestly, just put everything in the compost. We have dogs and cats and chickens and etc. so basically whatever that was not eaten is put on the compost heap. Even bones - although those don't actually break down. If you have newspaper - shred it and put it there. If you've just eaten fish and have the leftover bones and skin - put it in the compost heap. People worry too much!

Citrus peel always used to be abit controversial in the composting world 'it won't break down very quickly', 'the compost will become acidic', etc. However the view on it now is it's fine, so don't worry about adding it to your compost heap. Like everything in life - its about variety and not too much of any one thing, stick to that and your compost should be fine! Yes, sawdust and wood shavings from untreated wood is fine, again just a little at a time and make sure its mixed with lots of other stuff.www.alisonpike.com/blog/

I shudder to think how much bagged compost we all buy each year and I ask myself why. I suspect that for every bagful we buy we dispose of a bagful of 'tidyings' .

I would so like to become self-sufficient by making our own and have been trying for years but find it difficult. I'd like to be able to do it like 'Monty' but space and a 'tender' back prevent me. My 4 compost bins soon fill up and take far to long.

Last week I made a 'composter' using a large plastic drum that rotates on a frame. It looks and works well but any advice on how to use it would be much appreciated.